


The Economical Relocation Conundrum

by debirlfan



Category: The Big Bang Theory (TV)
Genre: Gen, a/u exchange 2018
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-01
Updated: 2018-09-01
Packaged: 2019-07-05 05:49:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,247
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15857487
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/debirlfan/pseuds/debirlfan
Summary: In a universe where Leonard's trip to the North Sea happens much earlier, Penny gets an unexpected surprise.





	The Economical Relocation Conundrum

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Ultra](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ultra/gifts).



 

Penny swept into the apartment and dropped heavily onto the couch. While Sheldon would have appreciated her knocking, he was long accustomed to her unannounced entries. Her failure to knock really didn't bother him that much. What did bother him, however, was precisely where she had landed on the couch.

Returning from the kitchen, glass of soda in hand, he paused beside Leonard's chair and gave her his patented death glare. “You're in my spot.” _By now she really should know better._

She looked up, staring at him blankly for a minute before his words seemed to register. “Oh.” She slid across the leather surface, making room for him.

He set his glass on the table and eyed her suspiciously. She seemed unusually out of sorts. “Penny, have you been drinking?”

His answer was a quick shake of her head in negation. “No, but now that you mention it, drinking sounds like a good idea. Have you got any wine? Beer? Anything?”

Normally, there would be some sort of alcohol in the apartment, but Leonard was away, sailing the North Sea, and Sheldon didn't drink. Whatever spirits Leonard had left behind had been cleaned up by Howard and Raj, who had insisted they would spoil in Leonard's absence. “No, but I'll make tea.” He turned and headed for the kitchen.

“It's okay, Sweetie. You don't need to do that. Besides, I don't think tea will help.”

He busied himself heating water. “Nonsense. It's obvious that you're upset. Social convention dictates that I make you tea.”

A few minutes later, he set the cup down on the table in front of her, then claimed his spot on the couch. “You seem upset.” _He hoped it wasn't trouble with a boyfriend. The last time he'd gotten involved in one of Penny's failed relationships, it had cost him his pants._

Despite her earlier insistence that it wouldn't help, Penny sipped her tea before answering. “One of my best customers died.”

Sheldon fought down the urge to panic. He regularly ate at the Cheesecake Factory. _What if he had been poisoned as well?_ “What did he eat?”

“Huh?” She looked at him strangely, then gave a little laugh. “No, he didn't die at the restaurant, or from anything I fed him.” She paused, frowned. “Well, maybe at his age,he shouldn't have been eating so many rich desserts, but I'm not the food police.”

“So one of your elderly customers died?” Sheldon was relieved to learn that there was no immediate personal danger, but was still confused by her reaction. He might have expected a bit of sadness, but Penny appeared to be downright shell-shocked.

“Mr. Rivers,” she confirmed. “I wondered why he hadn't been in this week. He usually came in for dinner at least every couple days, always alone. He seemed so lonely, I felt sorry for him. Any time we weren't busy and things were quiet, I'd sit and talk to him. His wife died ten years ago and he had no family.” Penny sniffed, as if on the verge of tears.

Sheldon reached for a tissue and passed it to her. She blew her nose loudly before continuing. “Apparently he passed away in his sleep last Friday. His maid found him. I didn't find out until today. His lawyer came in, asking to see me.”

“Surely you're not going to be sued because he choose to gorge on cheesecake?”

Penny laughed again, this time the sound coming with a little edge of something Sheldon couldn't quite identify. _Hysteria, perhaps?_

“The lawyer was there to tell me that I was in Mr. Rivers' will. He left me money. Scratch that. He left me a _lot_ of money.”

So that was why she was so shook up. _Perhaps a bit of humor would help?_ There was one thing that always interested her. “I imagine that means there will be new shoes in your future?”

She shook her head. “Shoes? Sheldon, you don't get it. I'm not talking new Jimmy Choos. I'm not even talking shoe _store_ money. I'm talking shoe _factory_ money, and then some. Mr. Rivers was worth billions, and I'm getting more than half of it. What am I going to do?”

\---Two months later---

Penny breezed into the apartment with a smile on her face and a bottle of champagne in her hand. “Glasses, Sheldon. We need glasses.”

He didn't move from his spot on the couch. “Penny, you know I don't drink.”

She went past him into the kitchen, rummaging in the cabinet and returning with two wine glasses. “Special occasion. We're celebrating. I promise, a sip won't hurt you.” Penny opened the bottle and poured a healthy amount into one glass, a smaller amount into a second. Sitting down beside him, she passed him the latter.

Sheldon eyed her suspiciously. “What are we celebrating?”

“Several things.” She sipped from her glass. “First, the movie is on! My script is being tweaked by a professional screenwriter, and as soon as it's ready, we'll start casting the other rolls.”

“Congratulations.” He was happy for her. Just after she'd moved into the building she had told him and Leonard about the script she was working on, and had mentioned it again intermittently. While Sheldon had doubts that a movie about a girl from the mid-west moving to California to become an actress would be a box-office hit, he wasn't sure she even cared about that. She wanted to tell her story, and to have something she could brag about to her friends back home in Nebraska. The movie would accomplish that.

“Sheldon...” She gave him a meaningful look over the rim of her glass, “We're celebrating.”

He let out a long-suffering sigh. “Very well.” He took a tiny sip from his glass. As he had anticipated, he didn't care for the taste. “So what else are we celebrating?” he asked, attempting to distract her attention from the fact that he'd barely sampled the champagne. “Did you buy that shoe factory?”

Penny laughed at that. “Close, actually. I bought real estate.”

 _Oh._ He had hoped that she wouldn't, but it was no surprise that she had. She was quite wealthy now, and surely an aspiring actress who could easily afford it would choose to live in a mansion with a yard, a swimming pool and hired help, not in a dinky apartment in Pasadena. He dreaded the idea of breaking in a new neighbor, but even more so, he dreaded losing Penny. “So when will you be moving?” He wasn't sure he wanted to know the answer.

“Moving? No, Sweetie, I'm not moving,” she grinned. “I bought the apartment building at 2311 North Los Robles Avenue.”

Sheldon stared at her, not entirely sure he was hearing her correctly. “You bought the building? This building?”

“I sure did.” She refilled her glass, and poured a bit more into his. “I'm your new landlord!”

Unbidden, his hand brought his glass to his mouth, and he gulped down the rest of the champagne. He sputtered a bit at the taste, but managed to ask, “You're staying?”

A huge grin spread across her face. “Why not? It's not like I have to worry about paying rent. And you haven't even heard the best part.”

“Which is?” As far as he was concerned, the best part was that she was staying, but he asked, anyhow.

“I've ordered new washer dryers. And I've got people from Otis coming next week to repair the elevator!”

 

 


End file.
